To Hell and Back Again
by PepperCarnage
Summary: My first fic! w00t! Erm...yeah. No summary, except I will tell you that it's bloody, icky, and gory in parts, has some irritatingly kawaii stuff, and some depressing stuff. Read on...bwahahahaha...
1. 1

DISCLAIMER  
  
I do not own the rights to Tenoh Haruka, Kaioh Michiru, Meioh Setsuna, Tomoe Hotaru, Tsukino Usagi [both one and two], Chiba Mamoru, or any other characters found in "Bishojou Senshi Sailor Moon." These are copyright to Takeuchi Naoko, Kodansha, and Toei Animation. These characters are used without permission.  
  
HOWEVER...  
  
All other characters are MY property and cannot be plagiarized without express written permission from ME. The story itself is mine, and I will give you hell if you rip it off in any way and claim that it is of your own creation.  
  
Well, other than that, have fun Hope you enjoy my story ;)  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"Damn, Usagi, how can you eat so much?"  
  
Chibiusa was already more than a bit pissed off at the fact that her "big sister," Usagi, was thirty minutes late for picking her up after school. She was REALLY mad at Usagi for making HER Mamo-chan pay for that ridiculous amount of food. And she was even angrier at the fact that he didn't have enough money to spend on her, after buying Usagi all that grub. All she had was a half-eaten donut that Usagi had thrown at her.  
  
Usagi said something incoherent between mouthfuls of food.  
  
Mamoru shot her a disgusted look.  
  
With effort, Usagi swallowed and said,  
  
"Because Mamo-chan bought it for me!"  
  
Chibiusa glowered at her. She resisted the urge to give Usagi a swift kick in the butt. She dimly contemplated shoving her into a park bench instead.  
  
Eventually, after a long, awkward silence, Chibiusa decided to sit down. It was actually a fairly nice day out, but Chibiusa was thinking it was hardly the time or place for Usagi to go on a date (with her Mamo-chan). For one thing, the park they happened to be strolling through was absolutely covered with dog crap. Even after the short, unseasonable snowfall last week in October, idiots still apparently thought that innocent little children such as herself would not notice the mountains of refuse under the now-melted blanket of snow.  
  
For another, it was getting late, and Chibiusa had other plans. Tagging along on Usagi's date with her boyfriend and listening to her incoherent bullshit about needing help with English (she didn't have English this semester) was even less fun than it sounded.  
  
It took about two whole minutes for Usagi and Mamoru to notice that she wasn't following them anymore. Chibiusa absent-mindedly gave Luna-P a kick.  
  
Luna-P beeped crossly as it landed unceremoniously in a pile of dog feces.  
  
A crunching noise caught Chibiusa's attention. Looking to her left, a large, wolf-like dog was rooting through the garbage can.  
  
It was grey, black, tan, and white. Its face was black, with an oddly green hue, with tan eyebrows and a tan-coloured muzzle. It had a black saddle mark on its back, and an oddly thin tail that reminded her of a whip. Its belly, feet, and the tip of its tail were white. Most of its body was slate grey. Its ears were pricked, but the tips flopped over. A tattered, bloodstained black rag was tied around its forehead.  
  
At first, Chibiusa was impressed at the dog's size. It must have been about 150 pounds. But, when she looked closer, she could see almost every bone in its body. Its fur was dirty, and it held its tail between its legs. She noticed a large, ugly, white scar on the dog's right shoulder.  
  
The dog turned to stare at the donut in Chibiusa's hand. It had eerily bright, green eyes. Chibiusa had never seen a dog with green eyes in her life, and they were the most human eyes she had ever seen.  
  
Suddenly, Chibiusa felt overwhelming pity for such an animal, dimly noting that it walked with a limp and it had a small cut on its muzzle that was bleeding freely.  
  
The dog instantly shut its eyes and put its ears back in a grimace of pain as Usagi shrieked at it.  
  
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO CHIBIUSA?! MAMO-CHAN, GET RID OF IT! NO, YOU IDIOT, DON'T BRING IT OVER HERE!"  
  
"Shut UP, Usagi!" Chibiusa yelled at her. The big dog cowered and started walking away backwards. It bared its fangs viciously at Mamoru, and its hair went up. But it almost instantly halted this display of aggression and shut its eyes, whimpering with fear.  
  
The dog was absolutely terrified of him.  
  
Why? The dog asked herself. Why the hell are you so afraid of HIM?! You could kill him with one bite! Besides, he's way more afraid of you than you should be of him. Cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it.  
  
But she knew why. It was the phobia. For six years, men had been nothing but dangerous and vicious to animals like her.  
  
Slowly, she forced herself to open her eyes and stop whimpering like a scared puppy. The man had, thankfully, backed off.  
  
That little pink-haired girl, Chibiusa, was fuming at what appeared to be her big sister, whose name appeared to be Usagi. Instantly she regretted ever coming near that garbage can.  
  
Chibiusa stopped yelling at her "sister," and threw that dirty, cat-shaped toy at her. This invited yet another scream fest.  
  
Reflexively, she lowered her ears and grimaced in pain again.  
  
Chibiusa shoved her "sister" into the mound of garbage that the dog had spilled. Dimly, she noted the irony. While that man was helping her out of the filth, Chibiusa kicked her in the butt, and watched the pile of food Usagi had been shoving down her throat fall into a mound of dog shit.  
  
She couldn't resist laughing. There was nothing she liked better than poetic justice.  
  
Soon, her laughing turned into violent coughing. She hadn't had something to eat or drink in two days.  
  
When she looked up, Chibiusa was offering her a donut.  
  
She blinked. Most people would have thrown heavy objects in her direction, or aimed a good kick at her ribcage. Most people hated stray dogs, especially wolf hybrids. She had seen stray dogs similar to herself be mercilessly run over, stabbed, beaten to death…  
  
…Shot…  
  
No. She told herself firmly. Don't think about that. Don't…  
  
She forced the image out of her head.  
  
The fact remained, this kid was offering her food, God damnit, and she was so hungry that she would have eaten poison.  
  
Gingerly, she took the donut and held it for a few seconds, savouring it. But the hunger was too strong. She almost swallowed it whole in her haste.  
  
"Don't worry about Usagi," Chibiusa said. "She's just worried about me."  
  
The dog cast her gaze over to Usagi. Of course! She should have realized. An animal her size could do serious harm to such a little child, in actual fact, could kill her within seconds, and Usagi had realized that. But Usagi didn't seem like a very strong person, so she had sent him to protect Chibiusa.  
  
But she was also hurt, deep down, that people would judge her as being so dangerous with a single glance. True, she had killed people before, but those were very special circumstances. She had never hurt an innocent creature in her life.  
  
Quit denying it, she mentally reprimanded herself. What about all those deer?  
  
Of course, she kept forgetting that. But that was for food, she urgently reminded herself.  
  
Feh. Do you think that's going to convince complete strangers that you aren't dangerous?  
  
"Am I really that dangerous?" she muttered under her breath.  
  
Chibiusa's eyes widened in shock.  
  
SHIT! The dog cursed herself for being so careless. YOU STUPID MORON! DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT?!  
  
She quickly made some non-incriminating noises that sort of sounded like words in order to cover up this screw-up.  
  
She breathed a low sigh of relief when Chibiusa muttered, "Just my imagination…" and walked off to Usagi and that man.  
  
"Bye-Bye, doggy!"  
  
Chibiusa waved good-bye and walked off and out of the park.  
  
For some reason unbeknownst to her, the dog wagged her tail in response and caught herself just in time before she started to wave back.  
  
"You know, Chibiusa," Usagi began, "you shouldn't go up to strange dogs like that, especially ones that are twice your size."  
  
Chibiusa nodded, not really listening, because her mind was filled with that poor dog. She could not forget those eyes. That dog had an almost haunted look in its eyes, as if it had seen a great many things, most of which it did not want to see.  
  
And it talked to her.  
  
Don't be stupid. Chibiusa reprimanded herself. Dogs can't talk.  
  
But cats can't, either, Chibiusa mused, remembering Luna, Artemis, and Diana.  
  
Chibiusa absent-mindedly stepped off the curb and started to cross the street.  
  
At any rate, that dog was intriguing, and Chibiusa hoped she would see it again.  
  
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud car horn blasted through the quiet scene and, after that, there was only madness.  
  
The dog had been following Chibiusa. That kid was a mystery to her. She caught every word of her conversation, for it was fairly hard to fool a dog's ears. It was strange, the way this conversation made her feel slightly nostalgic. At any rate, she was content to bask in this moment for as long as she could follow them.  
  
The blasting, ear-piercing sound of a car horn sliced through this moment like a cruel knife, and within half a second, the dog had reacted.  
  
Something hard hit Chibiusa from the back, and she went flying. The force knocked her all the way over to the other side of the street, and she scraped nearly all the skin off her left arm as she skidded to a halt on the sidewalk across the street.  
  
Wait a minute, Chibiusa thought. Why would I be hit from the back? For the car was clearly about to smash her in the right side.  
  
There was a loud CRUNCH.  
  
Chibiusa looked up just in time to see the dog make an unholy scream as a yellow Ferrari sent it flying through the air to hit a lamppost with a sickening CRACK.  
  
This happened in the space of two seconds, but it seemed to take hours for the car to finally stop, for the dog to fall in a crumpled heap underneath the lamppost, and for Usagi scream at the sheer carnage.  
  
Chibiusa was in shock. If it weren't for that dog, she would have been pulverized.  
  
No, she thought, as tears came to her eyes, if it weren't for my stupidity, that dog would be alive, and I wouldn't be lying in a pool of my own blood.  
  
Usagi and Mamoru rushed over to help Chibiusa up, but she brushed them off. She got up on her own and, clutching her bleeding arm, ran across the street to where the dog was lying.  
  
The dog was lying in a crumpled heap under its lamppost and one of its front legs was sticking out at an odd angle. A trickle of dark blood oozed its way down the side of its face.  
  
"Holy crap!"  
  
Chibiusa turned around to see Tenoh Haruka get out of the now-bloodstained and dented yellow Ferrari. She rushed over to where the dog was lying.  
  
"Haruka-san?" Chibiusa mouthed in disbelief. 


	2. 2

Am I dead?  
  
The dog was in blinding pain. She was certain that her right foreleg was broken, and her head felt like it had exploded upon impact with that lamppost.  
  
With effort, she opened her left eye and tried to focus.  
  
A small sigh of relief escaped Chibiusa. The dog wagged her tail, noting dimly that there was precious little in life at this moment to wag about.  
  
"Oh, thank God," an unfamiliar voice said.  
  
She turned her gaze on a tall, athletic woman who was brushing sweat away from her eyes.  
  
She should have been angry. Pure rage had reared its ugly head at more inappropriate times than this. She should have got up and torn her throat out for endangering the life of little Chibiusa. But…  
  
But.  
  
But what? But she was sorry? But she was scared to death already?  
  
But the dog knew. It was not anyone's fault that Chibiusa had stepped off the curb. Blame anyone. Blame her for making Chibiusa preoccupied; blame that stranger for driving too fast at night. Hell, even blame Chibiusa for not looking before she crossed the street.  
  
Killing an innocent person was not going to solve anything. Besides, she doubted she had enough strength to kill a mosquito at this moment.  
  
Overwhelming guilt ate at her guts for ever thinking such a thing. She breathed deeply and winced in agony as her probably broken ribs tightened.  
  
But this was no time to be lying face down at night. With tremendous effort, she righted herself. Instantly, a blinding needle of pain shot throughout her entire body. Tears came to her eyes. She managed to stay standing for five seconds before she passed out.  
  
Haruka was devastated. It was entirely her own fault that this dog was at death's door, that Chibiusa was loosing copious amounts of blood from her arm, and that Odango-Atama was shrieking at her boyfriend about keeping a closer eye on Chibiusa.  
  
Michiru and Setsuna were gone, Michiru to do a concert in another city, Setsuna on a…"trip" to the time gate. Haruka was desperately bored, so she had taken the car for a spin.  
  
And ended up with this mess.  
  
The dog fell into her arms. Without medical attention, this animal would certainly die.  
  
All right, Haruka thought, so this dog needs medical attention. Get it to a vet, you sack of…  
  
Haruka didn't have time to finish that thought. With effort, she lifted the dying animal and put it in the back of her car. The dog was surprisingly light, and now that she looked at it, every bone in its body was showing.  
  
Chibiusa ran up to the car.  
  
"Haruka-san," she began timidly, "it's my fault this happened anyway, so…"  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Haruka nearly shouted. "Anyway, I have to get this dog to a vet! I don't have time for this!"  
  
She punched the car in an attempt to control her rage.  
  
At first, Chibiusa was taken aback by this explosion from Haruka, but she noticed that Haruka's eyes were glistening with fresh tears. Whoa. Chibiusa had never seen Haruka cry before. In fact, Haruka's attitude seemed to suggest that crying was for wussies, not for hardened Sailor Senshi.  
  
Without warning, the car sped off into the distance at a speed probably in the range of several times the legal limit.  
  
The dog returned to consciousness just in time to hear the words, "…might as well give her a rabies shot while you're here," and to feel a stabbing pain in her right thigh.  
  
Oh, God, I've died and went to Hell.  
  
She tried to jump up, but the veterinarian held her down with surprising strength.  
  
"Now, Tenoh-san, she should be fine in that plaster cast for a few weeks. Those ribs are cracked a little, so you might want to consider lowering her activity levels a bit until they heal. Oh, and one more thing," the vet said, noticing the dog frantically tearing at her cast, "keep this thing on for that entire period of time." He fitted a large lampshade collar around the dog's neck.  
  
Is this what Hell is like?  
  
But she knew that she was alive. It was just that it was unbelievable. Not only was she alive, she wasn't in pain anymore.  
  
The vet handed the stranger a leash, a pink collar, a tag proving vaccination against rabies, and a rather hefty bill.  
  
The stranger blanched. "Uh, I'll charge this to my credit card."  
  
The dog watched curiously as the stranger signed the bill and muttered, "sorry, Michiru" under her breath.  
  
The stranger snapped the collar around her neck, clipped the leash onto it, ripped the hypodermic needle out of her butt, and lead her out of the vet office.  
  
Perhaps a better phrase would be "dragged her" out of the vet office.  
  
The dog hated leashes. They were an insult to her wolf ancestors. She stood in one spot, with all four feet firmly planted, eyes squeezed shut with the effort. The stranger pulled harder, the dog planted her butt down and took it. The stranger's face was going blue with the effort. The dog started actively resisting, walking backwards and thrashing her head from side to side. The leash was ripped from the stranger's hand.  
  
And the dog went flying.  
  
She was lying in an undignified heap with her butt sticking up in the air; her body had fallen against the desk. She was staring grumpily at the end of the leash.  
  
Without warning, both the vet and the stranger bust into fits of laughter. Irritated, she got up, followed the stranger out of the door, and jumped into the car.  
  
"I guess you don't like leashes," the stranger said jokingly.  
  
The dog just stared at her with murder on her face.  
  
"Whoa, there," the stranger said as the dog bared her teeth, "I'll take it off if you want."  
  
She stopped snarling and let the stranger take it off.  
  
"I…HATE…leashes."  
  
The stranger just gawked at her.  
  
SHIT!  
  
Two times in one night, she had lost it. And she had said it loudly and clearly enough that the stranger could not possibly think she was mistaken.  
  
There was a long, incredibly awkward silence.  
  
"So, uh, I guess I'd better get you home…"  
  
"I don't think that's necessary."  
  
The dog shifted in her seat.  
  
"I've been enough trouble tonight, I think I should leave."  
  
"Are you sure? You wouldn't last very long out there like that."  
  
The stranger had a point.  
  
"It wouldn't bother me, I've got nothing to do at home anyway."  
  
The dog stopped her attempt at escape. "Really?"  
  
The stranger nodded.  
  
"So, what did you say your name was?" The dog asked.  
  
"Me?" The stranger replied. "I'm Tenoh Haruka. What about you?"  
  
The dog pondered this for a moment.  
  
"Me? You can call me…Tenoh Cerberus. Nice to meet you," she said with a grin. 


	3. 3

Chapter 3  
  
The house was too big.  
  
Well, at least it was ten times the size of what Cerberus was used to.  
  
These were the first thoughts that entered her mind as she stared around the hallway of Haruka's enormous estate.  
  
"Do you actually live in this cavern?" she asked, incredulous.  
  
Haruka was temporarily taken aback by the dog's lack of manners.  
  
"Uh, yeah, um…do you like it?" she asked rather lamely.  
  
"Can I ask you something?" Cerberus asked.  
  
"I believe you just did."  
  
Cerberus paused for a few seconds before continuing.  
  
"Do you live alone in this place?"  
  
"No."  
  
"I suspected as much."  
  
Cerberus surveyed the area, taking note of several art projects that could potentially be used as weapons. It suddenly dawned on her that she may have been rather rude, and started to apologize.  
  
"Uh, sorry about that," she said, mentally hitting herself over the head with a tire iron. "I guess I have been acting kind of like a bi–"  
  
"Nah, don't worry about it."  
  
There was an awkward pause.  
  
Haruka finally broke the silence. "So, uh, you must be hungry…"  
  
She was interrupted by an impossibly loud roar that came from the dog's stomach.  
  
Both of them sweatdropped.  
  
"So, what does a regular bitch like you like to eat?"  
  
"Please don't call me that, it stopped being funny six years ago."  
  
Haruka faltered. "How old are you, anyway?"  
  
Cerberus shrugged. "I dunno…I lost count. My guess is about nine.  
  
"So, about the food…"  
  
"Oh, yeah," Haruka said, rooting through the pantry, which was nearly empty. "What do you like, KD? Take-out pizza?"  
  
"Lemme guess," Cerberus replied, "you're not the cook around here?"  
  
Haruka flushed.  
  
"Well, can't complain. It doesn't really matter, especially when you've spent much of your life eating out of garbage cans."  
  
For some odd reason, this made Haruka feel better.  
  
Forty-five minutes later, Haruka and her newly acquired dog friend were sitting on the couch, chowing down on some meat-lovers' pizza, and watching a badly dubbed American movie.  
  
Cerberus' lampshade was lying in the garbage.  
  
"Oh, God, it's so funny to see Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking Japanese," Haruka laughed.  
  
Cerberus, of course, had no clue who the hell Arnold Schwarzenegger was, but it did seem rather funny to see him spouting ridiculous phrases that people never said anymore.  
  
When he fired his gun, blowing some faceless thug's face off, he shouted an obviously dubbed "you die now."  
  
Haruka choked a bit, but Cerberus laughed out loud. And her laugh could only be described as creepy.  
  
She was laughing cruelly, not at the language, but at the fact that the man's face had been blown off. Her continuous, mirthless laughter freaked Haruka out a bit. She took a closer look at the dog's face.  
  
There was a cruel look on her face, and she was thumping the floor with her front paw in an attempt to control her insane, Esmeraude-esque laughter. Eventually, she stopped, and looked a bit embarrassed.  
  
Haruka made a mental note to keep sharp objects away from Cerberus.  
  
After the movie, Haruka fell asleep or passed out on the couch. Cerberus had the distinct impression that extremely greasy pizza and stale sake didn't mix very well.  
  
Cerberus watched her for a few minutes, to make sure she was really asleep. Between loud snores, Haruka would clench her fists and mutter incoherent things under her breath.  
  
"…Shut up, Seiya…"  
  
Cerberus had to resist the temptation to laugh.  
  
"…Get away from Odango-Atama, Seiya, you bastard…"  
  
"Who's Seiya?"  
  
Haruka jumped into consciousness; obviously unaware of the fact that Cerberus was watching her.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I said, who's Seiya?"  
  
Haruka really didn't feel like explaining the details of that creepy hermaphrodite alien to a talking dog at the moment.  
  
"Uh…just some guy."  
  
Cerberus raised an eyebrow. "I see."  
  
Haruka flushed beet red. "It's not what you think! I…he…odango…"  
  
"It's okay, you can tell me, I'm open-minded," Cerberus said in a voice full of wicked, devilish amusement.  
  
Haruka was getting a bit angry. "It's not what you think," she said flatly. "We hated each other."  
  
"Oh, sure, that's what they all say."  
  
Cerberus was about to say something else, but Haruka gave her a withering glare that stopped her in her tracks.  
  
"I…HAVE…SOMEONE," she said angrily.  
  
Cerberus raised her eyebrows dubiously.  
  
Haruka pointed to a framed photograph of herself and a pretty woman with blue hair.  
  
Cerberus' eyebrows disappeared underneath the filthy black rag that was fixed around her forehead. If her face were not covered with fur, she would have flushed furiously and visibly.  
  
"S-sorry! I didn't know, I-I…"  
  
Cerberus' ears fell on top of her head, and her tail tucked between her legs. She looked so horribly embarrassed that Haruka relaxed a bit. Despite the dog's huge size, she seemed to act more like a puppy than a feral wolf. Hell, sometimes she was downright cute.  
  
After yet another incredibly awkward pause, Cerberus said, "Uh…I guess I should get to bed…" She yawned hugely and falsely, showing dozens of cruelly edged teeth. "Where do I sleep, outside?"  
  
Haruka pointed to the couch.  
  
Cerberus jumped up onto the couch. "Thanks," she said, curling up into a tight ball on the couch with her nose buried in the base of her tail.  
  
"Don't worry about it," Haruka said drowsily.  
  
Cerberus wagged her tail a few times before drifting off to sleep.  
  
Cerberus was walking along the street with several other dogs, each of which were wagging their tails with glee. A tiny Chihuahua was sitting on top of her head. For once in her traumatic life, Cerberus was happy.  
  
A police car pulled up.  
  
Cerberus and company instinctively backed into an alleyway, shrinking into the shadows.  
  
Gunshots. Blinding pain. Screams. Maniacal laughter…  
  
"ARRRRRRRRRGH!!!"  
  
Cerberus woke with a scream. Tears were flowing out of her eyes; sweat running out of her feet. She trembled for a minute, breathing heavily. Her pulse roared in her ears.  
  
Those God damned flashbacks.  
  
Haruka came running into the room.  
  
"What the hell? Cerberus, what the hell is wrong?"  
  
She just stared into Haruka's eyes, shaking her head.  
  
"Nothing." 


	4. 4

Chapter 4  
  
There was a dark shadow in the doorway.  
  
The sun was just barely up, casting a blood red hue across the sky. Long shadows fell across the floor, giving the whole scene a surreal and eerie quality.  
  
Cerberus' hair went up, her ears went back, and she growled. She would be damned if she would let some intruder disturb the little peace she could cling to.  
  
The doorknob rattled.  
  
Cerberus stealthily positioned herself directly in front of the door and prepared to attack. She licked her lips, running her tongue over her wickedly sharp teeth. Instruments of death to any who would cross her path or threaten her sense of well-being.  
  
The second the door opened, Cerberus launched herself at the intruder.  
  
"Haruka-papa, I'm…AAGHHHHH!"  
  
The intruder screamed as Cerberus landed with all four paws pressed into her stomach. Cerberus bared all of her huge, sharp teeth, but just before she was about to tear the intruder's throat out, she got a better look at her.  
  
SHIT!  
  
The "intruder" was none other than a terrified little girl that couldn't have been much older than Chibiusa.  
  
Haruka came running out of the house in some old men's pyjamas and gaped at the scene.  
  
By this time, Cerberus had stopped snarling and winced at the stinging pain radiating from her broken leg. Her ribs had tightened again as well.  
  
She let the kid up and limped back into the house, extremely embarrassed.  
  
"Hotaru?"  
  
Hotaru shakily picked herself up off the ground and stared at Haruka with her large purple eyes.  
  
"Haruka-papa, when did you get a pet wolf?" she asked, slightly nervous.  
  
Haruka sweatdropped and started babbling.  
  
"Uh, well, see, I ran over it, so I had to take it to a vet, and now, it's sort of…living with us."  
  
"Are you sure you aren't trying to kill me, Haruka-papa?"  
  
Haruka decided to change the subject.  
  
"So, uh, where were you last night?"  
  
Hotaru looked rather annoyed now. "Haruka-papa, I TOLD you. Chibiusa-chan invited me for a sleepover. Why else do you think I packed my toothbrush and pyjamas before I left for school yesterday?"  
  
"You did?" Haruka said weakly.  
  
"Yes, I did, and I'm likely to be doing the same all week unless you can prove to me somehow that your wolf friend isn't going to kill me."  
  
Without waiting for a reply, Hotaru pushed her way into the house and threw her bag on the couch.  
  
"HEY! That hurt, you little bastard!"  
  
Hotaru jumped. She had just tossed her schoolbag right on top of Cerberus' head.  
  
And the dog threw it back right at her face.  
  
"It TALKS?" Hotaru said in disbelief, ducking out of the way of the flying bag.  
  
Mentally, Cerberus kicked herself in the face with steel-toed golf shoes.  
  
Haruka cleared her throat.  
  
"Uh, you guys want breakfast or something?"  
  
Hotaru suddenly remembered something.  
  
"Haruka-papa, don't you have a job to get to?"  
  
Haruka jumped.  
  
"CRAP!" She looked at her watch. "I'M LATE!!!"  
  
Haruka dashed off to her room, cursing. Cerberus watched her running around the house, knocking several expensive-looking art sculptures to the ground.  
  
Hotaru sweatdropped. "Michiru-mama is going to murder her."  
  
Cerberus suppressed a laugh.  
  
"Can I ask you something?" Cerberus said to Hotaru.  
  
Hotaru jumped. "Uh, sure," she said.  
  
"Why do you call her 'Haruka-papa'?"  
  
"It's a long story," Hotaru sighed.  
  
After Haruka and Hotaru left the house, Cerberus was desperately bored. She tried to sleep, but the house had too much light, even with all the lights off and the curtains drawn. She tried to find something to eat, but the only thing in the fridge was an old carton of milk, and the only thing in the pantry was a single, rather pathetic-looking box of instant macaroni.  
  
Haruka had locked her inside the house, after explaining briefly about why pet dogs couldn't go running around the city as often as they pleased.  
  
"We have this law, uh, people can't let their dogs walk around without a leash, let alone go wandering around town," Haruka had said.  
  
"But what am I supposed to DO?!"  
  
"I dunno, sleep? I'm sorry, Cerberus, but it's the law."  
  
Cerberus smirked. It wasn't as if the law had stopped her before.  
  
Cerberus chuckled devilishly as she easily picked the lock open. She stepped outside for a breath of fresh air, inhaling deeply as a soft breeze played across her fur, bringing with it the scent of many small animals she could maim later. Damn squirrels.  
  
This same breeze also blew the door shut.  
  
Cerberus didn't think it was much of a big deal. After all, it wasn't as if she locked the door. Was it?  
  
She decided to check. She lifted her left paw and tried to manoeuvre the doorknob with the limited dexterity her large paws could manage.  
  
A feeling of dread crept over Cerberus as she realized that the door was, in fact, locked somehow, and she was trapped outside.  
  
And it was at this moment that she had to go to the bathroom.  
  
Now, for a regular dog, this was no predicament. However, for a wolf dog with dignity, damnit, it was terrible. Cerberus refused to lower herself to the level of a common mutt and relieve herself in public.  
  
Cerberus started circling the house, looking for a way inside. Every single door and window she could check was locked. Shit. She had to hand it to Haruka. She sure knew how to keep a house safe.  
  
She looked up at the balcony.  
  
Perhaps…  
  
Perhaps Haruka wouldn't lock her balcony's door. People rarely did. They seemed to be under the impression that nobody would ever think of breaking in through a second-story entrance.  
  
The fence was just close enough that she could probably reach it if she jumped…  
  
No, she told herself flatly. You'll never make it.  
  
There was no way. Not with three cracked ribs and a broken leg. It was impossible.  
  
Almost impossible.  
  
Cerberus' stomach was starting to hurt. If she didn't do it soon…  
  
All right, fine.  
  
She leaped onto the fence and balanced with difficulty. It had been a long time since she had done something so delightfully dangerous. She fixed her gaze on the target and braced herself.  
  
Cerberus leaped as high as she could.  
  
She almost made it.  
  
Just before she was about to fall and grievously injure herself, her jaws clamped reflexively onto the railing.  
  
Cerberus let out a muffled yelp as her teeth locked painfully into position. The weight of her body was hard to bear on her teeth alone. She struggled to heave herself onto the balcony, pressing her front paws up onto the concrete and thrashing her hind feet in an effort to right her stupid mistake.  
  
Cerberus slowly pulled herself over the railing step by agonizing step and onto the balcony. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and panted heavily for a few seconds.  
  
She tried to push the balcony door open with her sweaty front paws, but it was locked.  
  
"OH, FOR THE LOVE OF…"  
  
Cerberus was on the verge of a rage attack. Over the past year, little things such as this started to send her into furious rages that usually ended in something getting injured or destroyed.  
  
With a roar, pure rage channelled itself through her body and she had smashed through the door.  
  
And it was at this moment that the sensation went away.  
  
"…The hell?"  
  
Was this really for nothing?  
  
Another attack of rage surged through Cerberus' body as she proceeded to shred the contents of the room she was now in.  
  
She found herself lying on the couch in the living room half an hour later waiting for something, ANYTHING, to happen.  
  
The sound of gunshots ripped through the air.  
  
"STOP!" Cerberus pleaded desperately. "STOP THIS MADNESS!"  
  
The next minute, a gun was trained right between her eyes.  
  
The sound of a shot. Excruciating pain. Blood spilling all over the ground…  
  
Cerberus woke with a start.  
  
She wasn't even aware that she had fallen asleep. Although her ribs ached with every breath, she couldn't stop panting heavily. It was the same nightmare, over and over again.  
  
But Cerberus was almost used to it. After all, it had been bombarding her for over a year. The question was, when was it ever going to stop?  
  
The scar on her shoulder seared with pain for a few seconds. Although the shell was gone, it still hurt after every one of these nightmares. But at least she was lucky.  
  
She was still alive. 


	5. 5

Chapter 5  
  
The sound of that tiny circular saw was drowned out by the veterinarian's words.  
  
"Unbelievable," he muttered.  
  
Cerberus' fracture had healed completely, all effects of the concussion had disappeared, and her ribs had knitted together perfectly.  
  
And this was after one week.  
  
"Your dog is certainly a very interesting case," the vet babbled. "In all my years of experience, I've never seen anything like this."  
  
Cerberus hated the way most people talked about her as if she couldn't understand them. The way people seemed to think that only they knew what the hell was going on at any given time.  
  
But instead of lashing out, she wagged her tail in a fake display of friendliness, and put on a smile that did not reach her eyes.  
  
She was getting better at self-control.  
  
"Well, Cerberus-chan, how does it feel?" Haruka asked.  
  
Cerberus wagged her tail and put on a lovably clueless expression. When the vet wasn't looking, she put on a serious face and pointed her nose at the door, looking from Haruka to the exit.  
  
"Uh, I guess we should be leaving…"  
  
"Wait a minute," the vet interjected, "there is still the question of the bill…"  
  
"What?! I paid you last time!" Haruka nearly shouted at him.  
  
"Yes, well, as you may know, it costs five thousand yen for an appointment…"  
  
Haruka blanched.  
  
"…and that x-ray is going to cost you about ten thousand yen…"  
  
A muscle in Haruka's face twitched convulsively.  
  
"…and finally, Tenoh-san, that circular saw has a rather hefty service charge of fifteen thousand yen."  
  
Haruka hung her head in order to hide the murderous expression on her face.  
  
Slowly, she extracted Michiru's credit card from her wallet and handed it over to the veterinarian.  
  
"Sorry, oba-san, but we don't accept credit cards."  
  
Haruka blinked. Oba-san? What did he mean, they didn't accept credit cards? Were they under new management?  
  
Oba-san?!  
  
"Sorry, oba-san, but we're under new management."  
  
Well, that answered one question.  
  
A few minutes later, Haruka and Cerberus left the vet's office; Cerberus feeling considerably happier, Haruka's wallet feeling considerably lighter.  
  
Cerberus looked at Haruka apologetically, and chanced to give her a weak smile. Haruka just kept walking with a grumpy look on her face.  
  
"So, uh, good luck in today's race," Cerberus said, completely out of the blue.  
  
Haruka smirked. "You're still not going."  
  
Cerberus stared at her with big, sad, puppy-dog eyes; her ears falling over to each side; her tail between her legs and wagging slightly.  
  
"Pweeeeeeeeze?"  
  
And she started to whimper. That's it, Cerberus thought, put the icing on the cake.  
  
A large, fake tear leaked down the side of her face.  
  
People were starting to stare.  
  
"All right," Haruka said, disgusted. "You can come to the stupid race. Just stop acting like a poor, neglected child and get in the car."  
  
Cerberus leaped in before Haruka could even open the door. She wagged her tail furiously and had to restrain herself from howling with joy.  
  
A few hours later, Cerberus was sitting in the back of Haruka's car with Hotaru and speeding along the freeway on the road to Haruka's next race.  
  
Hotaru winced with disgust as flecks of dog slobber hit her in the face.  
  
Cerberus looked at her reproachfully. "Well, I can't help it, you know, I am covered with hair."  
  
"What does that have to do with anything?" Hotaru asked, wiping the offending drool particles off her face.  
  
"Well, when you're hot, you sweat, correct?"  
  
Hotaru nodded slowly, wondering where this was going.  
  
"Well, when I'm hot (and it is rather easy to get overheated when one is covered with hair), I drool. And the wind blows it into your face, because Haruka-san won't drive at the God-damned speed limit."  
  
"Speed limits are for wussies," Haruka muttered.  
  
"Well," Hotaru replied, reaching the end of her patience, "you could at least turn you head so that I won't get hit in the face with your disgusting secretions."  
  
"Never!" Cerberus shouted.  
  
And so Hotaru spent the rest of that drive shielding her face from dog slobber because Haruka's driving was too fast.  
  
When they did finally reach the track, Cerberus was dehydrated, Hotaru was feeling murderous, and Haruka had run over several small wild animals (after each of which Cerberus cheered enthusiastically and mentally added another point to her score sheet, whereas Hotaru had felt like throwing up).  
  
Hotaru felt even more murderous when Haruka informed her that she had to sit next to Cerberus in the bleachers.  
  
"I won't have you sitting all by yourself, Hotaru, it isn't safe," Haruka had said.  
  
"But Haruka-papa…!"  
  
"Aww, what's so scary about me, Hotaru-chan?" Cerberus had said in an offended tone of voice. Her ears drooped and her eyes took on the classic sad puppy look.  
  
"Look at that!" Haruka had responded. "You made her upset, Hotaru. Now you'll be perfectly safe with Cerberus-chan here. Isn't that right, Cerberus-chan?"  
  
Cerberus wagged her tail and gave Hotaru a big, slobbery kiss.  
  
"EWWW!" Hotaru shrieked. "Haruka-papa! She DROOLED on me!"  
  
Cerberus laughed as she watched Haruka roll her eyes and walk off toward the locker room.  
  
"You know," Hotaru said after Haruka left, "if it were up to me, I would have kept driving and backed over your wretched corpse several times."  
  
Cerberus smirked.  
  
"You say that, but I saw the way you whimpered after Haruka-san ran over that squirrel. The look on your face was priceless."  
  
Hotaru was horrified.  
  
"How can you laugh at that? The poor little thing was just trying to cross the street, and…"  
  
Cerberus nearly died laughing.  
  
Hotaru scowled and crossed her arms.  
  
Just then, the loudspeaker blared.  
  
"The race is about to start! Please take your seats as the contestants…"  
  
"There's Haruka-papa!" Hotaru shouted, pointing.  
  
Cerberus followed her point, and saw Haruka wave at them from her bike. She let out a cheerful baying noise in response.  
  
"The competitors are as follows…  
  
"Tenoh Haruka!"  
  
The crowd let out a roar. Cerberus herself let out a thundering howl which forced Hotaru to cower in her seat and stuff her fingers in her ears.  
  
"Fukuda Tetsuo!"  
  
The crown let out a considerably smaller roar, which was dotted with boo's.  
  
"Kagawa Seiki…"  
  
By now, Cerberus was itching for this race to begin. The loudspeaker rattled off the rest of the competitors. Haruka lifted her visor for a few seconds and winked at her and Hotaru.  
  
Within seconds, the race had started.  
  
Haruka took an early lead. She manipulated the machine with little effort, as if it were an extension of her own body.  
  
But Fukuda was gaining on her.  
  
Within seconds, the two were neck and neck. Fukuda was aggressively trying to back Haruka into the wall. Cerberus' hair went up and she bared her teeth. Hotaru gave her a nervous glance and shifted in her seat.  
  
Seconds before Haruka would have been forced into the wall, she gunned the engine with a mighty roar and left him in the dust.  
  
Entering the second lap, Haruka was still in the lead. Fukuda came close behind her again. This time, he tried to ram her bike from behind.  
  
But Haruka was too smart for him.  
  
As they were rounding a corner, she made an incredibly sharp turn. Cerberus watched with glee as the bastard lost control of his bike and bounced off the wall, spinning out of control. Unfortunately, the bastard righted himself with a screech of burning rubber and continued his attempts in the third lap.  
  
Fukuda seemed to be getting angry. He forced his engine to work at top speed until he caught up with Haruka.  
  
Haruka had had enough of this punk. She tried to ignore him, but he tried once more to ram her into the wall.  
  
And once more he failed, as Haruka gunned her own engine at top speed.  
  
Haruka crossed the finish line a full five seconds before Fukuda, and Cerberus and Hotaru cheered loudly and enthusiastically.  
  
After the race, Hotaru went to get herself a drink. Cerberus, on the other hand, went to see Haruka. She found her just outside the locker room.  
  
"You did great!" she yelled.  
  
Haruka smirked. "Thanks."  
  
"That was soooo cool, how you just completely kicked that Fukuda bastard's ass," Cerberus laughed.  
  
Haruka chuckled. "Damn little prick was annoying me. I would just love to tear that bastard a new…"  
  
Haruka made a violent gesture in mid-air and laughed some more.  
  
"Aww, but then you'd be kicked out, Haruka-san."  
  
Haruka bent down on one knee and fiddled with Cerberus' ears. Her tail started to wag furiously. "You know I was just kidding, Cerberus-chan." She offered a wink. "Even I have my pride. I enjoy a challenge, not some push-over."  
  
Something shiny above Haruka's left shoulder caught Cerberus' attention. Her heart nearly stopped as she recognized that shiny object and the person that wielded it.  
  
Fukuda. With a wrench above Haruka's head.  
  
Cerberus reacted in an instant.  
  
Just before Fukuda's wrench was about to smash Haruka in the skull, Cerberus jumped six feet in the air and grabbed the bastard's arm in her powerful jaws.  
  
And she didn't let go.  
  
Another attack of supreme rage built up in her heart. Her eyes flashed dangerously. Fukuda let out an unholy scream as she pinned him to the ground with her two front paws pressed up against his neck.  
  
With a terrible CRACK, Cerberus exerted all the force her powerful jaws could upon the man's arm, breaking it cleanly in half.  
  
The wrench skittered across the ground and out of sight underneath an ice cream stand. The man behind it dropped a Popsicle onto the dirt and dropped his jaw, completely in shock.  
  
Cerberus didn't stop there. Years of experience had taught her that mercy was for the weak.  
  
The man screamed in agony as she set her fangs in him, blood splashing viciously from the wounds she was tearing into his torso. The salty, metallic taste of blood splashed across her tongue as she severed several arteries in his shoulders. Fukuda tried to hit her with his unbroken arm, but she simply grabbed it and started to bite down with two thousand pounds of raw pressure.  
  
With another CRACK, his other arm was broken.  
  
Still Cerberus did not stop.  
  
She was still tearing at him, inflicting a cruel justice upon the man who was willing to kill to satisfy his own jealousy. By now, her face was covered with the man's blood. The sounds of the onlookers' screams seemed oddly distorted, which could only mean that Cerberus' rage attack was in full force.  
  
Now to finish him.  
  
Cerberus grabbed his throat in her jaws. She let him savour the moment before his imminent death. But just before she was about to silence the screaming man, two strong hands grabbed her by the collar and forced her off the bastard by the neck.  
  
Cerberus whirled around to face the owner of these hands and found herself staring directly into the teal-coloured eyes of a very shocked and horrified Haruka.  
  
Cerberus was suddenly aware of the fact that Haruka had not seen, could not have seen what the bastard was about to do to her.  
  
The wrench…the wrench was gone…there was no proof…  
  
The intense rage faded from Cerberus' mind, letting the sounds of screams reach her ears at full volume. Her eyes flicked from person to person. Staring at her, fearing her, condemning her…  
  
She forced herself to look at Fukuda. He lay in a pool of his own blood, sobbing and screaming. Cerberus felt sick, just looking at the damage she had done.  
  
I'm a monster.  
  
But the worst part…  
  
Cerberus could not bring herself to look at Haruka, could not bring herself to face the terror in her eyes, the hatred…  
  
I don't deserve you.  
  
She was nearly blinded by her own tears. With a strangled sob, she ploughed through the crowd that had gathered around the spectacle. She could feel their eyes on her, filled with contempt, filled with hate.  
  
Bastards! Don't look at me like that! Leave me in peace!  
  
Cerberus ran at full power, reaching a speed that compared favourably with that of the cars on the highway she had been riding on only hours before.  
  
She kept running, out of the stadium, out of the city, and along the road back to the only home she had had in years.  
  
Even though she knew that such a thing didn't exist anymore. 


	6. 6

Chapter 6  
  
Cerberus finally stopped running.  
  
It had been a long time since she had had to push her body this hard. Since she even had the strength to push it this hard.  
  
She stood with her tail between her legs. It had been over a year since she had had anything even close to a friend. All of her old friends had eventually ended up getting brutally murdered before her eyes.  
  
It was times like back at the track, with that bastard, Fukuda, that she was most reminded of those times.  
  
Trying to kill them because they were in the way.  
  
Everything was the same. It was so God damned predictable.  
  
She paused to wipe the blood off her face.  
  
Cerberus resumed her flight from the stadium at a much slower pace than before, well aware that it was dark out, that she reeked of fresh blood, and she was in the middle of nowhere.  
  
True, she was following the road, but it might as well have been in the middle of nowhere.  
  
Cerberus cast her gaze downward and sniffed at some fresh paw prints. They bore the scents of five different dogs, and these same five dogs seemed to be on the brink of starvation. From what she could gather from the size of them, the dogs that made them were about a third to just over one half of her own size.  
  
Beautiful. Just fucking perfect.  
  
Cerberus could take on a small deer by herself, kill it, and pick the bones clean within an hour on a good day, but today was certainly not a good day. Today, she was both physically and emotionally drained. Beside that fact, it was nearly impossible to win in a fight against five other dogs, even if all of them were only about a third of her size. Even if she was at her peak strength.  
  
Cerberus shuddered. She was familiar with the stabbing hunger that would drive the wild dogs to kill and eat their own kind, but she had never really considered being alone, exhausted, and reeking of blood when that hunger would strike other animals.  
  
She wasn't really afraid. There wasn't much to live for, anyway.  
  
She almost stepped on a dead, flattened squirrel.  
  
Lunch.  
  
Cerberus started to salivate. Dimly, she wondered how disgusted Hotaru would be if she saw her salivating over roadkill (which Haruka had probably run over earlier that day).  
  
She laughed, even though it wasn't really funny. Let Hotaru spend six years on the verge of death. See how she turned out.  
  
Without batting an eye, Cerberus picked the roadkill squirrel up in her mouth and swallowed it whole.  
  
Thanks, Haruka-san, she thought dimly.  
  
Haruka.  
  
She winced at the memory. There was no way she could justify Fukuda's mauling, but she wished she had at least told Haruka why she did it.  
  
Although living alone again was certainly a much tamer punishment than having to live with the sight of yet another friend lying dead on the pavement.  
  
Cerberus turned her head as a car blared its horn at her. She leaped out of its way seconds before it would have flattened her. She almost wished it had.  
  
The driver threw a pop bottle out the window of his car as he passed her. It struck her in the face with a loud SMACK and clattered to the ground.  
  
Cerberus let out a snort. This damned piece of plastic was practically a cruel joke on her life. Just when she thought humanity couldn't shit on her any more, it tossed her some garbage for a change.  
  
She crushed the plastic bottle under her left paw and continued walking.  
  
Cerberus had almost reached "home" again. She looked at its dark alleys, covered with graffiti, and its familiar mounds of dog shit. So little had changed since the day she had first been dumped into the middle of an alleyway six years ago.  
  
If it hadn't been for blind luck, she would have died.  
  
She was just a pup, who had barely been away from her mother for more than five minutes. Life had taken a twisted and cruel turn that night. If it weren't for her old pack, she would have been something's breakfast in two minutes.  
  
It had been hard for Cerberus to learn how to live on skid row. It was only after several severe mistakes that she first got any clue as to how close to death she lived at every second.  
  
For example, if she hadn't eaten that rancid donut, she might not have for days, which would have made looking for food even harder, and would have made her easy prey for other starving individuals. She most certainly would have died an agonizing, humiliating death and nobody would mourn her passing.  
  
Not that she was really complaining. As of this moment, she didn't really feel that she deserved anyone's sympathy.  
  
Cerberus loped past a large sign that read "Ichi-no-Hashi Park." She had barely taken two steps into the park when the dogs finally stepped out of the shadows and showed themselves.  
  
Each of the five shaggy beasts was only about half her size. But they were far better equipped for battle than Cerberus was.  
  
They were five.  
  
She was one. And exhausted at that.  
  
The apparent alpha of the pack sent his followers to attack positions. His eyes glowed eerily in the dark night as each of the smaller animals positioned themselves for the kill. Cerberus almost felt sorry for the wretched things as she let her gaze sweep over the mangy, flee-ridden, emaciated beasts.  
  
But she would be damned if she would let them take her down without a fight.  
  
Cerberus put on an impressive display of aggression. She pricked her ears up, picked up her tail, and raised every hair on her body with a low snarl. She appeared at least twice her actual size, which was already a fairly intimidating sight.  
  
In her heart, Cerberus wasn't afraid. Even if she lost the battle, she would win the war. Even if she died, she would win in the end, because she wouldn't have to live in fear anymore.  
  
"Come and get it," she snarled.  
  
Even though her enemy couldn't understand it, it made her feel more confident in saying it. The alpha faltered for a split second, but with a swish of his tail he quickly sent his pack in for the kill.  
  
Adrenaline powered through her veins as the enemy threw itself at her. She set her fangs into one of the offending animals' neck and tossed it aside as if it weighed nothing. It yelped as it smashed into the very same garbage can that Cerberus had been rooting through only a week ago.  
  
The other four beasts charged, slashing at her with their own fangs. A horrid rending sound let itself be heard as the ravenous jaws closed on her. Pieces of torn flesh and hair went flying as Cerberus tried to fight them off, but she had no chance out in the open. She leaped out of the fray, screaming in agony as the enemy tore long gashes across her side with their hundreds of yellow and broken teeth. She ran as fast as her weakened condition would allow, but the dogs gave chase. Soon enough, they had her cornered in an alleyway.  
  
Cerberus couldn't have chosen a more perfect place for her to fight. She turned around to face her assailants.  
  
The noise would have been terrifying for anyone else. The other dogs growled and gnashed their jaws. The most terrifying look was present in their eyes; a look that was filled with helplessness as much as it was with cruelty and hunger.  
  
Cerberus let out a deep, loud roar as she prepared to meet her fate. This raw, feral battle cry reverberated along the narrow alleyway, sending shivers down the dogs' spines.  
  
The sound of snarls didn't quite drown out the rending noises of torn flesh. The dogs fell on Cerberus once again, and she fought back with all her strength, skill, and power.  
  
Her jaws closed on one of the dogs' throats, and it screamed as she tore its jugular with one mighty sweep of her neck. A fountain of red blood sprayed out of the wound and against the narrow walls of the alleyway. It fell to the ground; twitching, convulsing, and choking on its own blood.  
  
The three remaining dogs pinned her to the ground. They tore at her body, shredding her skin, ripping out chunks of fur. She tore herself free of their grips with a scream of rage and agony. One of the dogs raked her face with its wickedly sharp eyeteeth as she did this, sending blood gushing across her line of sight.  
  
The alpha grabbed her by the collar as she tried to regain her composure.  
  
Curse that fucking pink collar!  
  
He pulled at it, nearly crushing her windpipe in the process and forcing her to stay in one position. She tried to blink the blood out of her eyes and fight back at the same time, even as the other two of her enemies lunged for her throat.  
  
At the last second, Cerberus violently thrashed the alpha off her neck and in the direction of the other two dogs. He carried to collar with him. Confused, the two dogs tore him to pieces before realizing that they had killed their own leader.  
  
Poor things. They would certainly die, now that they had lost their alpha.  
  
Cerberus lunged at the last of her enemies, barely holding on to her own conscious. The remaining two dogs ran off. Co-ordination without an alpha would prove too chaotic for them to continue the assault.  
  
Cerberus was hurt badly. She could barely see, her face was so covered with blood. Her belly, throat, and legs had been brutally slashed, and her tail had been broken to top things off. She was growing weak from blood loss from these numerous open wounds on her body.  
  
Cerberus looked to the sky through a haze of red. The moon was barely a sliver of light in the sky.  
  
The moon's glow had always held a sort of special meaning for her, although she had never really understood why. Most people thought that wolves howled at the moon every day, that it was just something they did. But Cerberus hardly ever howled at the moon; in fact, had only ever done it once before. The moon had enough troubles of its own than to hear her whine about life.  
  
Cerberus could hardly remember when she had last howled to the moon. It was only a year ago, but it was a time that Cerberus would have liked to forget. It was an entire lifetime ago for her.  
  
It had been on the day her pack died. Cerberus had been slowly dying of blood loss through her right shoulder. It was a death song, this howling to the moon. Not just any song.  
  
As she watched it, the moonlight died out.  
  
Cerberus howled her mournful song to the moon one final time before she hit the pavement. 


	7. 7

Chapter 7  
  
DISCLAIMER  
  
This particualr chapter gets fairly dark, so if you're really just some kid who likes to look at R-rated stuff, you have been warned. This episode is fairly important for the whole story, so if you want to be left in the dark, don't read it. You have been warned. =) Bwahahahaha...  
  
...  
  
Just read it already -.- lol  
  
Chapter 7  
  
"You haven't been taking very good care of Hotaru, Haruka-san."  
  
Haruka went a bit red in the face as Hotaru told Setsuna and Michiru about the recent happenings having to do with Cerberus.  
  
She shuddered at the thought of that freak.  
  
She had no idea as to why Cerberus had suddenly decided to murder Fukuda. True, he wasn't dead, but he would have been if Cerberus could have had her way.  
  
The only reason Haruka could think of was that Fukuda was a tough competitor, and Cerberus had taken it upon herself to get rid of him. She flinched inwardly as she recalled how she had managed to persuade Hotaru that the dog was safe, that she would protect her, that she wouldn't hurt anyone…  
  
All this had just happened in the space of a few hours. Haruka could hardly believe her own naiveté. Usually she was much more sensible than that.  
  
She shuddered again at the thought of how much Cerberus would have hurt Hotaru if she hadn't stopped her that morning.  
  
Damned animals. I'll never trust another dog again, as long as I live…  
  
She cleared her throat and decided to change the subject.  
  
"Anyway, what took you so long, Michiru?" she asked. For Michiru had clearly said that she was leaving for ONE concert in another city.  
  
Michiru massaged her temples in an attempt to reduce the sheer magnitude of the migraine she had had for several days.  
  
"Because some drunken frat boys trashed the concert hall and the concert was delayed for five days. It's a good thing I could get a hotel on such short notice, or else I would have been flat on my butt for the past week." Michiru cast her gaze in Haruka's direction. "But when I tried to use my credit card, it had hardly any credit left on it. There was something on it about an emergency operation on a pet dog. Haruka, do you know anything about this?"  
  
Haruka went beet red and muttered a very unconvincing "No."  
  
Setsuna, Michiru, and Hotaru all raised their eyebrows dubiously, but said nothing.  
  
"Anyway, Setsuna-san," Haruka finally said, "what are you doing here? I thought you said you had business at the time gate."  
  
"I did," Setsuna replied. "But that was until I received notice that some stupid errors of your already poor judgement nearly got Hotaru killed. Again."  
  
Haruka shifted uncomfortably on the spot.  
  
"Well, to be honest, both of you tried to kill her at least once, so I honestly don't see why you keep on picking on me…"  
  
Hotaru huffed indignantly and muttered under her breath. "I hardly think that my near killing is a laughing matter."  
  
"…And besides, you were the one who kidnapped her from her amnesiac father, Setsuna-san."  
  
Hotaru angrily rose from her position on the couch and headed for the door. "I'm going to see Chibiusa-chan. At least her parents don't argue about who tried to kill her, or KIDNAP her, or torment her in every possible fashion imaginable..."  
  
She slammed the door on her way out before she was even finished speaking.  
  
"Shouldn't someone go with her?" Setsuna asked.  
  
Haruka and Michiru both gave her a blank stare.  
  
"Oh, fine! I'll go by myself!"  
  
Setsuna stormed out the door in an uncharacteristically grumpy stride.  
  
She slammed the door with so much force that one of the little glass plates in the window fell out and broke on the floor inside. She was dimly aware of Haruka cursing and Michiru pressing her further about her credit card bill.  
  
The coppery scent of her own blood dominated this God-forsaken alleyway.  
  
Cerberus lay facedown in the alley. Blood was slowly flowing out of her wounds, her body temperature was falling rapidly, and she was gradually drifting into a half-dead stupor. Painful dreams plagued her sub-conscious, filled with agonizing memories and chaotic emptiness. She shuddered convulsively. That old, dirty, black rag started sliding down her face, revealing a dead-grey crescent insignia on her forehead.  
  
Slowly, it began to pulse with a faint, yellow light in time with her heartbeat. The light gradually dimmed and the pulses slowed as time passed.  
  
"Hotaru! Hotaru!"  
  
Setsuna felt rather stupid leaving the house after Hotaru, not even knowing which direction she was headed or what she actually intended to be doing at this time of night. She doubted that she really was headed to Chibiusa's house. It was rather insulting to one's dignity, to be shouting down an abandoned street in the middle of the night when innocent people were probably trying to relax. And, damnit, Setsuna was all about dignity.  
  
A cold wind blew along the street, carrying dead leaves and several pieces of garbage with it. Snowflakes began falling, an extremely unusual occurrence for this time of year.  
  
This was getting ridiculous. Not only was it extremely dangerous for a small child such as Hotaru to be wandering the streets of Tokyo alone at midnight, it was also unseasonably freezing outside.  
  
A small, pulsating, yellow light caught Setsuna's attention.  
  
Cerberus' head dropped, forcing the black rag over her forehead again. Her skin turned deathly pale, and even if the rag hadn't been covering it up, the dim glow would have been nearly impossible to see.  
  
The light stopped glowing soon after Setsuna first saw it.  
  
Setsuna would have been quick to dismiss it as a figment of her imagination…if she actually had an imagination. Lights didn't just appear out of the corner of people's minds, they came from somewhere. Every time Setsuna had dismissed something this way, it had come back to haunt her in some way, shape or form.  
  
As Setsuna drew closer to the source of the light, she nearly slipped in a puddle of some sort. That was rather strange, considering the weather hadn't been wet enough lately to make a puddle of any sort of size.  
  
But soon enough, she realized why.  
  
The metallic, coppery smell of fresh blood was all over this alley. She held a hand to her mouth to keep from vomiting.  
  
Her gaze rested on a small body lying in the center of the pool. As her eyes adjusted better to the darkness, she could make out a heavily injured person lying, trembling, in the middle of a pool of her own blood.  
  
Who's there? Who is this, disturbing my death?  
  
Cerberus had been in the middle of a deep stupor, but the presence of footsteps in the alley had roused her to a kind of semi-consciousness. The smell of her own blood was everywhere. No doubt that would attract other creatures, or perhaps even the very same ones that she had fought off earlier.  
  
I don't want to die like this.  
  
To die the death she wished upon herself just hours ago whilst begging for her own life was more than she wanted to endure. As absurd as it seemed, she had always wanted to die a hero, not as a weak and helpless wretch.  
  
The footsteps grew closer. Something splashed in the blood near her face.  
  
Reflexively, Cerberus bared her teeth and uttered a guttural snarl. Although she was at death's door once again, she did not wish to be sent to Hell one second sooner than she would without the interference of another individual.  
  
Just wait until I die, at least.  
  
Setsuna jumped as the person's features tightened in a grimace of rage and aggression. Almost immediately afterwards her features relaxed. Setsuna watched in horror as the person stopped shivering, and her hands stopped twitching.  
  
What was this?  
  
It was at this moment that Hotaru chosen to walk past the otherwise deserted alley and nearly slip in the same puddle of blood that Setsuna had only a few minutes beforehand. She glanced around wildly before resting her terrified gaze on Setsuna.  
  
"Setsuna-mama? What in the world…?" 


End file.
